Japan’s Emperor Hirohito broadcast the surrender announcement on August 15, 1945.
The broadcast followed Japan’s decision to accept the Allied terms in the Potsdam Declaration. Hirohito recorded the speech at the Imperial Palace, and it was transmitted by NHK at noon Japan Standard Time. The recording announced that Japan had accepted the declaration, although it used formal court language rather than the simple phrase “Japan has surrendered.”
The timing can cause confusion because the announcement reached the United States on August 14 owing to the international date line and time-zone differences. The formal surrender ceremony occurred later, on September 2, aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
The broadcast was historically significant because it was the first time most Japanese people had heard their emperor speak directly. Poor audio quality, unfamiliar classical Japanese, and the speech’s indirect wording made its meaning difficult for some listeners to understand immediately.